Afghan protesters killed as Koran tensions simmer

Updated
Sun 12 Sep 2010, 10:29 PM AEST

Afghans protested violently for the third day on Sunday despite a US pastor giving up plans to burn copies of the Koran, with three other cases of desecration of the Muslim holy book likely to stoke their anger further.

Two protesters were shot and killed in eastern Logar province, a district official said, taking to three the death toll in protests staged since Friday.

The furore over pastor Terry Jones's plans to burn copies of the Koran, a grave insult to Muslims who believe it to be the literal word of God, overshadowed the lead-up to commemorations for the September 11 hijacked airliner attacks on the United States.

Ceremonies in the United States on Saturday marked the ninth anniversary of the attacks by Al Qaeda, which led to the toppling of the Taliban by US-backed Afghan forces in late 2001 because the hardline Islamists had harboured Osama bin Laden's group.

Pastor Jones's plan and proposals to build an Islamic cultural centre and mosque near the site of the toppled World Trade Centre in New York highlighted a growing debate in the United States about religious tolerance.

Hundreds of people favouring and opposing the cultural centre and mosque gathered in New York for peaceful rallies hours after ceremonies in the city - and in Washington and Pennsylvania - to mark the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

Word of the intention to burn the Koran had already triggered outrage in Afghanistan and across the Muslim world.

US president Barack Obama warned it could hurt the United States deeply abroad, endanger US troops in Afghanistan and risk attacks in US and European cities.